Being a homeowner is wonderful. But it has its downsides, especially if your property is older. Broken fly screens, damaged fencing, and filthy gutters are just a few jobs that can quickly pile up and become overwhelming.
Thankfully, a local handyman can quickly take care of the jobs for you, and give you back your free time. But is your house covered for any accidents that occur? Does homeowners insurance cover a handyman?
Does homeowners insurance cover a handyman?
Unfortunately, homeowners insurance does not cover a handyman who works in your home. This is because the person is carrying out work, which places them in an entirely different realm of insurance. If the handyman was a friend visiting for a catch up, with a cup of coffee in his hand instead of a hammer, he would be covered. But as long as he is completing work for you, he requires a different kind of insurance to protect your home from damage, and yourself from personal injury.
What kind of insurance does a handyman need?
First and foremost, a handyman needs public liability insurance. This is the most important insurance for a handyman to get, as it covers him in three key areas:
- Property damage. Accidents happen, especially when completing manual work. A broken television is more likely when ladders are being carried around, and if this or anything else happens, you’ll want to make sure that your handyman’s insurance covers the damage.
- Personal injury. Broken window panes, damaged tiles, rusty nails, and plenty more can lead to an unexpected injury for either the handyman or someone in the home, and public liability insurance covers this.
- Legal bills. From the handyman’s perspective, if an insurance claim is made against him, public liability insurance will cover his legal bills so that he isn’t out of pocket.
Public liability insurance is usually all a handyman needs for basic cover, and protects for up to $5 million in damages.
Some real estate agencies may request professional indemnity insurance for their handymen, which covers them for any advice that has been given during their stay. If a handyman tells a client how to clean their gutters themselves, missing a key safety step that leads to the client falling and breaking their arm, professional indemnity insurance protects against this unfortunate situation.
The last piece of insurance that a handyman should consider is something that covers their tools. A handyman’s tools are his livelihood, and they can be incredibly expensive to replace. Something like general property insurance or another handyman-specific insurance that protects their tools can help to avert big financial losses.
Summary
Homeowners insurance doesn’t cover a handyman when he is working in your home. Instead, he’ll need to get public liability insurance, which will cover most of his and your concerns. He may also need to get professional indemnity insurance, if a real estate agency requests it, and it’s a good idea for him to get insurance that covers the loss of his tools.
We hope this article has cleared things up for you. When you’re hiring a handyman, just make sure that he has public liability insurance as a minimum, and you’ll be covered for the work that he carries out in your home. Thanks for reading!